VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) provides a significant cost advantage over standard PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). In addition, it is easier to add features to VOIP systems than PSTN systems. This trend is extending into teleconferencing systems. However, using the same techniques for VOIP conferencing as are presently used for PSTN conferencing would unnecessarily limit VOIP conferencing systems, particularly in regard to reliability-enhancing features such as load balancing amongst conferencing equipment and recovering from equipment failures.
Thus, there exist a need for VOIP conferencing system that takes advantage of the features that can be provided by using networking, including the internet.